Disc jockey fired in flap over Brownies

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Radio disc jockey Perry Stone was fired for picking on two Girl Scout Brownies on his radio show and insulting a teenager on the air wit4952who had been under suspension, of his dismissal by registered letter Tuesday night. Stone could not be reached for comment.

Stone, a self-described 'shock jock,' has been criticized for his attacks on minorities, women and the disabled.

His verbal harassment of two Brownies, telling one 9-year-old to pocket Girl Scout cookie money, on his March 10 show cost him a suspension. A second incident on the same day, involving a teenage girl who wrote a letter to the disc jockey, may have been more serious, KSJO attorney Michael Hurley said at a news conference.

The girl's angry mother wrote a letter to station manager David Baronfeld, demanding a retraction. The woman said Stone read a letter on the air from her daughter and that he used obscenities to describe the girl.

Stone's insult of the girl exposed the station to possible liability, and as part of his termination agreement, the disc jockey recorded a brief statement retracting his 'indecent reference' to the girl, Hurley said. The station has agreed to air the retraction periodically in the next four weeks.

Stone returned to the station last Friday to record the retraction. Its broadcast will be the last time he is heard on the station.

'I still believe Perry is a very talented guy,' Baronfeld said. 'But what happened March 10 was something that placed the company, and the people at the station, at risk that wasn't there before.'

Stone's morning show was top-rated among young male listeners. He joined the station in 1987. He had received a contract renewal last December that would have run through the end of this year.

Trish Bell, Stone's on-air sidekick, remained on suspension without pay, Hurley said. No decision has been made as to her future with the radio station, he added.